Caracalla's maternal aunt, Julia Maesa, successfully instigated a revolt among the Third Legion to have her eldest grandson ( and Caracalla's cousin ), Elagabalus, declared emperor in his place.

Elagabalus ' mother publicly declared that he was the illegitimate son of Caracalla, therefore due the loyalties of Roman soldiers and senators who had sworn allegiance to Caracalla.

Both consuls and other high-ranking members of Rome's leadership condemned Elagabalus, and the Senate subsequently declared war on both Elagabalus and Julia Maesa.

Elagabalus tried to have his presumed lover, the charioteer Hierocles, declared Caesar, while another alleged lover, the athlete Aurelius Zoticus, was appointed to the non-administrative but influential position of Master of the Chamber, or Cubicularius.

Diadumenian had little time to enjoy his position or to learn anything from its opportunities because the legions of Syria revolted and declared Elagabalus ruler of the Roman Empire.

Elagabalus unsuccessfully tried to have Hierocles declared Caesar, which would have made him the emperor's successor.

Numismatic and other evidence that have survived of her, date from her second, brief marriage, to Elagabalus.

235 ) (), often seen as just Aelian, born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222.

Elagabalus was married as many as five times, lavished favors on male courtiers popularly thought to have been his lovers, employed a prototype of whoopee cushions at dinner parties, and was reported to have prostituted himself in the imperial palace.

Elagabalus's family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the sun god Elagabal, of whom Elagabalus was the high priest at Emesa ( modern Homs ) in Syria.

The deity Elagabalus was initially venerated at Emesa.

When the emperor Macrinus came to power, he suppressed the threat against his reign by the family of his assassinated predecessor, Caracalla, by exiling them — Julia Maesa, her two daughters, and her eldest grandson Elagabalus — to their estate at Emesa in Syria.

After Julia Maesa displayed her wealth to the Third Legion at Raphana they swore allegiance to Elagabalus.

Elagabalus and his entourage spent the winter of 218 in Bithynia at Nicomedia, where the emperor's religious beliefs first presented themselves as a problem.

While Elagabalus was still on his way to Rome, brief revolts broke out by the Fourth Legion at the instigation of Gellius Maximus, and the Third Legion, which itself had been responsible for the elevation of Elagabalus to the throne, under the command of Senator Verus.

The relationships between Julia Maesa, Julia Soaemias, and Elagabalus were strong at first.

Before constructing a temple in dedication to Elagabal, Elagabalus placed the meteorite of Elagabal next to the throne of Jupiter at the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

Elagabalus ' family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the sun god El-Gabal, of whom Elagabalus was the high priest at Emesa ( modern Homs ) in Syria.

One of his most famous paintings is The Roses of Heliogabalus ( 1888 ) – based on an episode from the life of the debauched Roman Emperor Elagabalus ( Heliogabalus ), the painting depicts the psychopathic Emperor suffocating his guest at an orgy under a cascade of rose petals.

Born Varius Avitus Bassianus on May 16, 205, known later as M. Aurelius Antonius, he was appointed at an early age to be priest of the sun God, Elagabalus, represented by a phallus, by which name he is known to historians ( his name is sometimes written " Heliogabalus ").

Born Marcus Julius Gessius Bassianus Alexianus, Alexander was adopted as heir apparent by his slightly older and very unpopular cousin, the Emperor Elagabalus at the urging of the influential and powerful Julia Maesa — who was grandmother of both cousins and who'd arranged for the emperor's acclamation by the Third Legion.

Elagabalus was initially venerated at Emesa in Syria.

The cult statue was brought to Rome by the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who before his accession was the hereditary high priest at Emesa and is commonly called Elagabalus after the deity.

Herodian also relates that Elagabalus forced senators to watch while he danced around his deity's altar to the sound of drums and cymbals, and at each summer solstice celebrated a great festival, popular with the masses because of food distributions, during which he placed the holy stone on a chariot adorned with gold and jewels, which he paraded through the city:

The Roses of Heliogabalus is a famous painting of 1888 by the Anglo-Dutch academician Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, at present in private hands, and based on a probably invented episode in the life of the Roman emperor Elagabalus, also known as Heliogabalus, ( 204 – 222 ), taken from the Augustan History.

The 4th century Historia Augusta reports emperor Elagabalus to have used a wheelbarrow ( Latin: pabillus from pabo, one-wheeled vehicle ) to transport women in his frivolous games at court.

Grandmother of both the Roman emperors Elagabalus and Alexander Severus, she figured prominently in the ascension of each to the title at the age of fourteen.

He was from Caria and was at some point enslaved and became a charioteer in the service of Elagabalus.

The legion was still in Jerusalem at the time of Caracalla or Elagabalus.

* 218 – Battle of Antioch: Elagabalus defeats with support of the Syrian legions the forces of emperor Macrinus.

After months of mild rebellion by the bulk of the army in Syria, Macrinus took his loyal troops to meet the army of Elagabalus near Antioch.

* June 8 – Battle of Antioch: Elagabalus defeats with support of the Syrian legions the forces of Macrinus.

On June 8, 218 near Antioch, Gannys, Elagabalus ' tutor, defeated Macrinus and his son, with the help of the III Gallica and the other legions of the East.

In the following year, however, the II Parthica, stationed in Apamea ( Syria ), abandoned Macrinus and sided with Elagabalus ; the Second supported Elagabalus ' rise to purple, defeating Macrinus in the Battle of Antioch.

* In the Battle of Antioch ( 218 ), Elagabalus defeated Macrinus and become Roman emperor.

The Battle of Antioch ( June 8, 218 ) took place between two Roman armies of the Roman Emperor Macrinus and his contender Elagabalus, whose troops were commanded by general Gannys.

If later, hostile historians can be believed, Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos.

The senators responded by acknowledging Elagabalus as emperor and accepting his claim to be the son of Caracalla.

While Julia Maesa tried to position herself as the power behind the throne and thus the most powerful woman in the world, Elagabalus would prove to be highly independent, set in his ways, and impossible to control.

Seeing that her grandson's outrageous behavior could mean the loss of power, Julia Maesa persuaded Elagabalus to accept his cousin Alexander Severus as Caesar ( and thus the nominal Emperor to be ).

The marriage is symbolic, because Elagabalus appears to be homosexual or bisexual.

The legion disappears from the sources after 219, when their commander, Gellius Maximus, rebelled against Emperor Elagabalus and proclaimed himself emperor, only to be defeated by Elagabalus.

" Elagabalus " was son of Sextus Varius Marcellus, a Syrian, and Julia Soaemis, daughter of Julia Maesa ( the younger sister of Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus ); he was therefore nephew of the late " Caracalla ", whose natural son he claimed to be ( note that he took the same name as Caracalla upon donning the purple ).

Elagabalus considered the blond Hierocles to be his husband and is credited with saying:

In the year 221, Roman Emperor Elagabalus desired Annia Aurelia Faustina to be his wife.